University of Oklahoma Graduate College to Cuba
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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE TO CUBA AND BACK: THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE POLYPHONIC CHORAL HABANERA A DOCUMENT SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS By DAVID GÓMEZ Norman, Oklahoma 2020 TO CUBA AND BACK: THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE POLYPHONIC CHORAL HABANERA A DOCUMENT APPROVED FOR THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC BY THE COMMITTEE CONSISTING OF Dr. Richard Zielinski, Chair Dr. David Howard Dr. Eugene Enrico Dr. Bruce Boggs © Copyright by DAVID GÓMEZ 2020 All Rights Reserved. Acknowledgments I would like to thank my doctoral committee members for investing their time and effort in my musical growth. I hope to carry their legacy proudly in my future endeavors. I would also like to thank my family. The research in this document will honor our Spanish heritage. Finally, I would like to thank all those who supported my opportunity to study at the University of Oklahoma. Your fortitude and patience allowed me to pursue my passion. I am confident this commitment will result in a future filled with wonderful music opportunities. I am honored, blessed, and forever grateful for all of you. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... iv Abstract .......................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Statement of Purpose and Need for the Study ............................................................ 1 Scope and Limitations ................................................................................................ 3 Procedures and Methodology ..................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2: Survey of Related Literature ........................................................................... 6 Chapter 3: History .......................................................................................................... 13 Colonial Period ......................................................................................................... 13 Conquest and Revolution ......................................................................................... 14 Chapter 4: Dance ............................................................................................................ 18 Early History ............................................................................................................ 18 Contradanza .............................................................................................................. 20 Habanera ................................................................................................................... 22 Influence ................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 5: Music ............................................................................................................ 27 Early History ............................................................................................................ 27 Contradanza .............................................................................................................. 29 Habanera ................................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 6: Polyphonic Choral Habanera ........................................................................ 45 History ...................................................................................................................... 45 Analysis .................................................................................................................... 48 v Chapter 7: Conclusions .................................................................................................. 53 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 55 Appendix A: Polyphonic Choral Habanera Repertoire .................................................. 57 Appendix B: San Pascual Bailón .................................................................................... 60 Appendix C: El Amor en el Baile .................................................................................. 62 Appendix D: La Paloma by Sebastián Iradier ................................................................ 63 Appendix E: Original Title Page of Tú .......................................................................... 64 Appendix F: Tú by Eduardo Sánchez Fuentes ............................................................... 65 Appendix G: Overview of Tú ......................................................................................... 71 vi Abstract The habanera is a music and dance form originating in Havana, Cuba, during the eighteenth-century Spanish colonial period. The Spanish travelers returned to the Iberian Peninsula with the sensual habanera rhythm and fascinating experiences on the island. Cuban composers had initially fused these elements with Spanish romanticism. The habanera caused an immediate impact when it arrived in Europe. Many prominent late romantic composers featured the exotic style in their works. Habaneras were composed in choral arrangements for over a century after their continental arrival. These arrangements gradually produced a twentieth-century Spanish choral art form known as the polyphonic choral habanera. The repertoire has remained unfamiliar to non-Iberian choral communities. This document aims to familiarize ensembles and audiences with this valuable exotic choral repertoire, which captivatingly documents the history of Spanish travel to Cuba. vii Chapter 1: Introduction Statement of Purpose and Need for the Study I am a first-generation American conductor with heritage from Spain. My primary research focus is on Iberian choral genres formed due to Spaniards venturing to the New World. During the Spanish colonial period, the travels of my migrant ancestors were often forced by a need to find sustenance for their families. For centuries, many Spaniards had been living in rural areas under meager conditions. Other times, they traveled willingly to seek adventure in the newly discovered exotic lands. Nevertheless, they did not see the impact their back-and-forth journeys would have in forming new music, which held: a nostalgia for the times of the long-gone travel to Cuba. Songs that invoked the years of military service or travel in search of prosperity became a window to the exotic world full of palm trees, sensual mulatto women and brave sailors. The exotic imagery of the songs gave a chance to the listeners and the singers to forget, at least for a moment, the limitations and scarce reality of the post-war Spain and allowed them to liberate their imagination.1 The habanera is a music and dance form originating in Havana, Cuba, during the eighteenth-century Spanish colonial period. The Spanish travelers returned to the Iberian Peninsula with the sensual habanera rhythm and fascinating experiences on the island. Cuban composers had initially fused these elements with Spanish romanticism. The habanera caused an immediate impact when it arrived in Europe. Bakhtiarova explains: Habaneras, whose very name points to their connection with the Cuban capital city, Havana, once called Spain’s “beloved” colony, are sung all over Spain. These seductive and nostalgic songs in a languid two by four time tend to speak 1 Galina Bakhtiarova, “The Iconography of the Catalan Habanera: Indianos, Mulatas and Postmodern Emblems of Cultural Identity,” Music in Art 35, no. 1/2 (2010): 237. 1 of outlandish women left behind in the distant tropical paradise of the Caribbean, and of the brave and powerful men. Born as a product of the transculturation that underlies the formation of Cuban culture and nation, habaneras continue their almost two-hundred-year history into the twenty-first century.2 The Spanish migrants used the habanera to recount tales of their time in Cuba. In these songs, they “invoked nostalgia for the lost tropical paradise of the Caribbean, its sensual women and lost opportunities for fortunes and enrichment.”3 Prominent late romantic composers featured the exotic habanera style in their works. The French particularly enjoyed its musical exploration. It rapidly became a tool for composers who were seeking to introduce elements of exoticism in their music. The use of the habanera style became a way to simulate Spanish flair. At the end of the nineteenth century, the habanera was perceived by many as a trademark of “Spanishness,” and European composers such as Georges Bizet, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emanuel Chabrier, Eduard Lalo, Raúl Laparra, and Maurice Ravel, among others, exploited it in musical pieces with a “Spanish” theme.4 Habaneras were composed in choral arrangements for over a century after their continental arrival. These arrangements gradually produced a twentieth-century Spanish choral art form known as the polyphonic choral habanera. Manuel explains: Most such habaneras were written by amateur or semiprofessional tunesmiths and were sung by amateurs at family gatherings, as sidewalk serenades, or as formal or informal musical soirées. Despite the decline of some of these contexts under the impact of modernization,